So She-Who-Is-Loved and I were slouching on the couch catching some assorted tube time together when that new docutainment piece by Cameron what's-his-name came on about finding the tomb of Jesus and His family.
I got all antsy about watching it. It's the same feeling I had about Fahrenheit 911, which I never saw. It's a combination of cynicism about so-called documentaries and a strong desire to protect my assumptions about the world, hunkering down like a wide-eyed prairie dog at a dog party, a big dog party.
But what does it really matter? An empty tomb, a full tomb.
I'm not sure it makes a difference if there is a tomb with the bona fide body of Christ and company.
I don't want to get into a critical analysis of Terminator Boy's film, because I don't think it matters. Truth is, I took the Little Master to bed about a half-hour into the show. She-Who-Is-Loved and I had this discussion, right there on our poor, dilapidated sofa. I hesitate to write about it. People might jump to conclusions, put words in my mouth, that sort of nonsense.
I come back to the question. As a follower of Jesus, my faith won't move one inch away from God if Cameron's conclusions are proved true. If anything, how cool would it be to have physical evidence of a living, breathing Jesus. It's the life of the man that matters, that drives us to act like fools, sacrifice for others, forgive our enemies and love strangers. It's the walking, talking, fishing, breaking bread, setting down stones, getting his feet washed and drinking wine Jesus that I follow.
That's all that matters, I think.
3 comments:
I am very interested in your opinion and conclusion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and yours is a good one. However, I cannot understand why you don’t see the big deal. The big deal is that a whole movement was build around this man. (STATEMENT) A movement that became a new religion and was used to murder thousands of people throughout the world during the Spanish inquisition, which targeted Jews, Muslims and everyone else. Of course for the record, I am only pointing out one major form of abuse and only one time period. This religion targets everyone whom does not believe in this religion and or movement which today is called Christianity.
Let not forget that Jesus was a Jewish man preaching Jewish theology. Now to the heart of my point. Following the logic that this Jewish man called Jesus was just a man that did not resurrect from the dead redefines everything that the Christian faith has claimed. So is that a big deal, you bet.
I have learned that if part of an argument or a story is a lie, there is no way to know if 10%, 20 or 99% is true or false. Once the lie or version has been altered or changed the whole falls apart. Thus if Jesus body were to be found the same would apply. In terms of faith okay you can put that aside and believe in God, but religious wise, the Jewish faith is where it all came from.
Listen I don’t have a problem with Jesus flying, walking on water or duplicating fish to feed the multitudes. I believe that he did all these things. But I have also learned as a Jewish Theology scholar that many Jewish Rabbis of the time and previous times were doing the same exact thing. They were flying, walking under and over water etc. In fact, there was even a Yeshiva (Jewish school of learning) where the smallest student (in skill not age) was able to speak to the dead. So imagine what the most knowledgeable ones were doing. It makes you wonder if Jesus studied in some of the places. After all, why doesn’t the Christian faith know anything about his life in detail up until Jesus was 30 something? Or are they hiding something!
This is why the Jewish people of the time did not pay attention to him (Jesus). Because to the Jewish community WHAT HE WAS DOING WAS NOTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY. On the other had to the Romans and Greeks it was a big deal.
So what is the big deal? Only the Jewish people follow the Bible and know what is God. In fact, they are the only ones that have the WHOLE thing (Bible), unchanged for thousands of years. In fact what we have is just a small portion and that is where the big deal starts and ends. So in black and white, the question arises. If you don’t have the tools how can you fix it? And how can you think that it is only the life of a man that matters. For that matter, should we consider every Jewish person in the same way? I think we should!
Helmer
Thanks for sharing your insights. I agree that the "murder of thousands of people around the world" is abuse - abuse of people and abuse of what Jesus taught. Of course, I have only my interpretation of the record of his teachings in the Bible. But there I see one who taught a way of love.
You say "this religion targets everyone who does not believe in this religion or movement". It seems you're linking the "targeting" with things such as the Spanish Inquisition - and I'm supposing the message of many modern Evangelical Christians who talk about "the lost" or conceive persons as either eternally condemned to hell or rewarded with heaven based on their assertion of belief in Christian doctrine and/or Jesus as the Son of God.
As one who is trying to understand and follow Jesus' teachings, I am very sorry for all that has been done in the name of Christ or Christianity which communicates anything but love.
As for the doctrines of the Christian faith which center on a bodily resurrection, sure they would be challenged by Jesus' bones in an ossuary. But true faith, good faith must withstand any rebuttal.
If there were scientific proof - which scholars DO NOT say that there is (in spite of this recent flashy docu-drama)- that Jesus was a man that lived and died. Died and stayed dead, that is. If that would ever turn out to be true, the propositional statements of the Christian faith would be in question.
But the greatest of all things is love. Love remains. And at its heart I believe the Christian message is about loving God and loving others. (A truly Jewish teaching, if I'm not mistaken)
There is no doubt in my mind that the "truth" of Christianity has been abused for centuries - that is, unfortunately what we humans do to one another. Certainly Christian's don't corner the market on using their "rightness" to wield power over others. People do it all the time in the name of religion, God, nationalism, etc. I just think that such rhetoric and hideous action has little to do with what Jesus taught.
So, in the end, I'm not trying to defend Christianity or the acts of Christians throughout history. And I guess I can't really defend what Jesus reportedly taught. I can only say that from where I see it, humans mess up a lot of stuff.
Who knows - maybe I'd be better off considering myself a student of the rabbi named Jesus?
Anyway - I appreciate your input. Peace.
helmer,
I, too, appreciate your comments, though, obviously, I disagree with some of them. I won't get into that, because we both know that we're not going to change any minds here. Love is the thing, the point, as nancy writes. Love weaves its way through the Hebraic texts and our New Testaments. Love was, I believe, what made people like Mary and Paul and Peter and all the other followers of Jesus to sacrifice so much. And in the end, faith is faith. It can't be proved through logic, propositions, experimentation, analysis or any other human endeavor. So we're left with what we think or feel is right. I've chosen to follow the way of peace through Christ.
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